Tourism

Strengths

• Historical attractions: Not only the Angkor Wat complex, but also other sites around Cambodia rank among world scale attractions and form a unique strength for Cambodia tourism.

• Natural beauty: Cambodia has many

• Strengths in terms of natural attractions, including mountain. River, seacoast and forest areas.

• Good location: Cambodia is well located, with ease of access to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Hong Kong, offering a base for extended tourism trips. 

• Ability to attract "add-on" trips: With massive tourist arrivals in key regional centers, it would be easy to have side trips to Siem Reap, Phnom Penh or Sihanoukville areas, without having to bring tourists all the way from countries of origin.

• Novelty value: In the earlier years, Cambodia can still benefit from novelty quality, as few people have visited in the past. This is a short-term strength, but can be utilized for two or three years.

• Social attitudes: There is no hostility to foreigners, and, contrariwise, rather positive human relations,  which can benefit tourism. 

• Bureaucratic simplicity: Unlike some countries, and unlike some other aspects of business in Cambodia, tourism visits to Cambodia are fairly simple to arrange, with visas available on arrival, requiring few formalities.

Weaknesses

• International perception: Cambodia does not have a good image internationally, and this may deter both investment and tourist arrivals.

• Infrastructure: Infrastructure is very poor, and cannot sustain large numbers of tourists. These short coming include airport, local transport, facilities at tourist sites, and not much development.

• Human resource development: There are few trained people in the tourism industry, so there is heavy reliance on foreign labour, which is expensive.  

• Aviation confusion: Cambodia has a chaotic aviation situation, with Royal Air Cambodige unable to provide adequate domestic or international facilities while other domestic airlines are being set up, which could create safety hazards.

• Industry organization: Industry groupings are weak and unrepresentative. These include hotels, travel agents and lack of a general Travel and Tourism Industry Association.

• Worsening situation: With already inadequate facilities, the situation is worsening as tourist arrivals grow rapidly. It is impossible for supply to catch up with demand.

• Under-funded Tourism Ministry: The Ministry of Tourism is under-funded, especially as far as the promotional budget is concerned and has no strong influence on budgetary commitment.

• Transparency problems: Land title issues and ownership rights over tourism facilities create difficulties for development.

• Health and Safety: Health facilities are poor and inadequate to meet the needs of sudden emergencies. Safety concerns are a major consideration both in urban and more remote areas.

Opportunities

• Up-market tourism: At Cambodia's stage of development, there are opportunities to reach up-market segments for small groups of high-priced tourists.

• Eco tourism: Cambodia offers good scope for tourism linked to environment, forest reservations, and natural resource-based destinations.

• Niche marketing: there are several niche area opportunities, including French-speaking market sourcing, historical and archeological groups.

• Development of multi-destination tourism: Cambodia may readily be made part of a tourism package also taking in Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City. Restoration of overland road and rail links can offer good scope for road and rail tourism, both for high- spending and also for mass tourism groups.

• Beach and river development: Beach tourism for international visitors hardly exists in Cambodia, and river travel is limited. Both offer great scope for development.

Challenges

• Land-ownership: Many projects can be delayed or frustrated by land ownership, as there is lack of clarity in this issue.

• Financing: It is very difficult to obtain finance for projects in Cambodia, adding to delays and escalating costs.

• Human resource development: Project developers find that they cannot access trained personnel, and there are also few facilities for training in tourism-related occupations. 

• Regular supply sourcing: Tourism requires a wide variety o f supplies, and it is difficult to source reliably in Cambodia.

Expectations

• Tourism industry growth: There is confidence that tourist arrivals will grow in double over the coming years.

• Stable environment: There is general confidence that the overall economy will grow satisfactorily, and the political environment will remain stable.

• Land travel development: There is confidence that overland routes will be developed both from Thailand and from Vietnam, enabling substantial regional movement of visitors.

• Infrastructure: It is anticipated that funding for roads and other facilities will not be available from public sources so these will have to be funded from private projects, with collection of fees or tolls.

Concerns

• Legal security: The legal infrastructure is neither developed nor enforced; creating uncertainties and holding back project commitment.

• Physical security: Cambodia is not sage or secure enough for visitors to feel at ease, and there is no sign that the government is in a position to ensure such security any time soon.

• Government support: It is nor clear whether government is fully committed to developing the tourist industry, either by allocating funding or legislative action. Corruption: Existence of corruption in the tourism sector is a concern as much as in other sectors of the economy. 

Action

• Infrastructure prioritization: Basic infrastructure needs to be provided at Angkor Wat, upgrading of 154 kilometers road from Siem Reap to the Thai border.

• Training facilities: Large numbers of tourism-related staff need to be trained, and a training school needs to be set up, potentially funded

 Tourism
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